Hi guys,
I got a little bored last weekend and started building some new rear engine doors for my bus. I wanted to stay with the stock doors, but they are almost impossible to find for the MC-6. So my question is... What are your thoughts on venting the rear doors? And if I vent them, what are your thoughts on putting the vents in the top of the door verses the bottom? I'm just trying to come up with something that is pleasing to the eye. The 6 is ugly enough in the rear as it is. And next I will be building a stainless bumper. Any ideas are appreciated.
Here are a couple of pics of it right now.
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2F42e66481-e35c-feb9.jpg&hash=4b27fb42100def19026d096bc0eeb5a3bb8d8f76)
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2F42e66481-e382-053b.jpg&hash=0d1d9124e91d5d4fedb12dcfc8634fa41e2c6cbb)
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Hi Gary,
Love your coach...checked out your blog...super impressed! By the way, is that a typo or did you really put a 560 GALLON Fuel Tank in there?!?!!!!! :o :o :o
I've read that venting the engine doors helps quite a bit. From my own experience, I had a minor overheat issue due to an exhaust leak in the engine bay. Coach kept shutting down due to overheat sensor being set off...so I bungeed the doors wide open and drove the rest of the way no problems at all. I will vent my doors myself someday...Fred Hobe did it...here's a photo:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fusers.cwnet.com%2Fthall%2Fimages%2FFred_Hobe_engine_door_cooling%2520.jpg&hash=eabe449707e75da7b36c5c4447f13c531b51b4fe)
Thanks for the complement Scott!
Sorry about those pictures being loaded sideways. I posted them from my not so smart smart phone.
You did read that right, I have a 560 gal aux tank and a 200 gal main. I can buy fuel bulk here in Alaska and drive all the way down to southern Idaho and still have lots of fuel to spare. Avoiding all the expensive fuel along the alcan highway saves me around $1,000 round trip. :)
On the rear doors you posted, I see he installed the vents in the lower half of the doors. That is what I would like to do if I have to vent them. I'm wanting to do some kind of graphic design on the upper half of the doors and don't want vents to try and paint over.
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the upper door where you see the graphics in Fred's pic is the access for the blower for the rads. You do not want vents in that door, that would be very bad.
Gary-what I liked about the original 6's was the exhaust coming out the left side of the bumper. I see you have the block off plate-would be cool if you re activated that louvered rectangular exhaust port through the left side of the bumper. Good Luck, TomC
Tom,
That is the first I've heard of that. I was wondering why the block off plate was there. The funny thing is... I was thinking about running the tail pipe through there. As it is, it is right below that and pointing at the ground. It really bugs me when driving through un paved campgrounds, probably not as bad as it bothers other campers though. I'll have to try and find some pictures of the stock set up.
As far as my doors, I think I will install some stainless vents in the lower part of the doors and keep the upper part unvented. I spent a several hours last night just looking at the rear trying to come up with ideas.
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Sorry. I'm still sitting here with my jaw on the floor as I attempt to wrap my mind around 760 gallons of fuel capacity. I thought we were amazing having 280 gallons of capacity. I bow to your fuel storage awesomeness.
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Including the tanks, that's around 6,000 lbs of fuel...
Brian
I think Matt-6 has hand made doors. I would vent both top and bottom, recently installed flat expanded metal on side doors and working on both rear doors.
I've thought about making a one-piece door that hinges on the blower fan hinges. One big door...with vents. I'll do it someday...6000 pounds of fuel? Sheesh...so if you pull into a regional airport, you could always emergency fill a small plane haha!...ok that's sobering. :-[
LoL!
Yeah the nice thing about it is... It feels like I gained a bunch of HP by the time I get down south. :)
But in all honesty, my bus is so heavy, I really don't notice a difference full or empty.
This weekend I'm going to try and get the doors finished and the graphics painted. I'll post up some pics when I'm done.
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I had my steel supplier bend me up a stainless bumper cover and replaced the drab painted one then I polished it.
Before
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi8.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa28%2Fchopperscott%2FIMG_0124.jpg&hash=47f93ce586cd18e5a89a6a53107f398ab08ba13f)
After
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi8.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa28%2Fchopperscott%2FIMG_0127.jpg&hash=d3287f21f2739ec2f50b39140cccf79bf0a6ce90)
Hi Scott,
That looks really good!!! Your bumper is done exactly how I was going to do mine. I was wondering how it was going to look. :)
I see you don't have any vents in your rear doors. Do you have any problems with heat?
Thanks for those pics!
Gary
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I'm wondering what the lights on the roof pointing backward are for??? Tailgaters? Wow they look like they'd have you seeing stars if you looked into them at night.
Great fabrication job! Just my two cents here, if you have overheating issues I would:
Make sure that you are running the small pulley
Make sure you have a properly sealing blower fan section (should pull a piece of paper out of your hand around a foot from the intake and also make sure that you have the big radiators.
I'd also Infrared gun the radiators, the inlet and outlet of the water pump and the thermostats at temp and lastly if you have a shutterstat system I'd tee off the air lines to it for the summer.
That might be a lot more than two cents worth though! Good luck
RB
One more thought... don't the 6's come with smaller blower fans and aren't the actual intakes like 8"X8" instead of the larger ones that came on the 9's? That would be a major refab job to change those I'm sure
RB
Hi Rick,
Please take this for what it is worth because I am not 100 percent sure. I believe from looking at the pictures of Gary's bus that the radiator is behind the big grill on the drivers side and I don't see the squirrel cage blower belt that is typical of most older MCI's. Good advise otherwise though.
Good luck, Sam
Sam,
You are correct, I have a very large radiator behind that grill and I also have another large radiator on the other side. The one on the right side has four 12 volt fans that cool it and the one on the drivers side has a belt behind the bumper that runs a clutched fan. I'm not really sure what the 6's came stock with when they had the 12v71 in them?
Rick,
Those are backup lights for those long dark parking spots here in Alaska. They are controlled by a spring loaded toggle so they aren't left on. It would probably work good for tailgaters also. :) You can't see it in the picture, but I have a remote controlled spotlight on top of that light box. It has come in very handy at some hunting sites that I have never been in before. It always seems like I show up at night.
I've been out cutting vents into the lower half of the doors today. I'm still not sure I want to install any in the upper half of the door? I have never had any heat issues with my bus, but I have never been in over 90°F with it.
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silly me, didn't even realise that his radiator setup is different from other MCI's.
Actually Gary I made my vents in the side doors. On the curb side I have a tranny cooler and fan set up also. I used stainless steel donut cooling racks (you red it right!) that I found on Ebay for the screens. You can find various sizes. Later
Guess bus is no longer for sale didn't the old eagles have rear doors that worked like the shutter stats on the rads if over heating is a problem maybe someone has done the work for you already Rich
Scott,
That sounds like something I would do! I bet it looks good too! My entry door is operated by a sears garage door opener. It is mounted under the floor at the top of the spare tire compartment. Gears and chains connect it to the original door hardware, some nice buttons and a remote and your in. 8);)
Rich,
I did pull the adds shortly after I posted them. It got nice out and I started tinkering with it again, and had a change of heart. One part of me tells me it is a poor investment, and the other part of me don't care ;D;D;D
I got the doors finished, the vents installed, got the upper part painted, installed some marker lights on the lower portion, and now waiting on the graphics so I can get them installed. *vinyl graphics* I hope they look good! I'll post pics when all done.
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Thinking outside the box can be interesting Gary!
Finally got the rear of the bus finished! :) well except for the bumper. That will be after we return from our trip.
Filling it up with water and driving until we find some sun, or go broke, whatever comes first.
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2F4a7c6177-b1b8-c084.jpg&hash=b576354d12838b6f126e3ab82ed9495ff3f1f8c9)
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Quote from: Seayfam on June 01, 2012, 11:27:40 PM
Finally got the rear of the bus finished! :) well except for the bumper. That will be after we return from our trip.
Filling it up with water and driving until we find some sun, or go broke, whatever comes first.
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2F4a7c6177-b1b8-c084.jpg&hash=b576354d12838b6f126e3ab82ed9495ff3f1f8c9)
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Nice work Gary, drive it up to Fairbanks and pan for some gold! The Discovery Channel sez it is everywhere up there!
Looks really good pard,
BCO
maybe go a bit past there and get ornaments at north pole.
Hey Gary, how about a close up shot of the louvered area on the doors?
Lookin good Gary!
Thanks for the complements guys!
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I got all caught up in roasting a wiener. ;)
The bus and I were purring like a kitten. Neither of us wanted to stop.
BCO,
We have been going 100 miles north of Fairbanks for the last 10 years to hunt for caribou. We always bring a pan with us and do a little panning while we are there. So far the grand total over that time is one ounce. Not quite as good as discovery makes it out to be.
Chevy49,
That is a stop we always make when we are up there. We have to go to the Santa Clause House at North Pole and buy a bunch of, well, should I say? "junk" ;D
Derrick,
Here is some pics. I hope it's what you were wanting.
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2F4a7c6177-481f-9f19.jpg&hash=02ccc2edddbe965bf3bbf315b66c09cf0e93825c)
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2F4a7c6177-485c-8893.jpg&hash=783f131d88c99b395f16a61bb85e21a81e5998b4)
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Gary -
Nice work! I think you'll also find that those vents will help the engine compartment cool down once you've parked for the day - a hidden bonus! (Oh, here's another project: Rig up a couple of electric fans on the doors to suck cool air in thru the vents when parked!
Love those back-up lights!! Reminds me of the rectangular Cibie halogen fog lights I put on the rear of my '66 Corsa Convertible way back when. . . (Because I dislike folk behind me who won't dim their headlights, hehehe!)
A suggestion in the interest of safety: Perhaps change out the rear red turn signal lamps for amber? Especially some of the new LED models, which seem to be much brighter, and are an easy swap on your 6. Truck-Lite and other vendors have a good selection nowadays.
Anyway, nice work on the vents, and I like the graphics, too!
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)